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穿梭 (chuān suō) — to shuttle, to travel back and forth

Definition

穿梭 emphasizes rapid, repeated movement between two points (shuttling), like buses, couriers, or planes. 往返 is plainer round-trip travel; 穿过 is passing through a space; 穿越 adds a time-travel sense.

verb
to shuttleto travel back and forth

Examples

  • 穿梭，。
    Gāo tiě zài gè dà chéng shì zhī jiān chuān suō, shí fēn biàn jié.
    The high-speed rail shuttles between major cities, very convenient.
  • 穿梭。
    Kuài dì yuán qí zhe diàn dòng chē zài jiē dào shàng bù tíng chuān suō.
    The courier keeps shuttling through the streets on an electric bike.
  • 穿梭。
    Zhè tiáo háng xiàn měi tiān yǒu èr shí duō jià fēi jī chuān suō.
    More than twenty planes shuttle along this route every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

穿chuānpass through
梭suōshuttle

穿 is the motion, 梭 makes it shuttle-like.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

穿 puts 穴 (cave) and 牙 (tooth) together to show passing through or penetrating.

Open 穿 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mù
Sound part声符shēngfú
夋
夋qūn梭suō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

梭 is built from 木, the wood part, and 夋, which gives its sound.

Open 梭 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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